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Eddie Palmieri

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@ National Portrait Gallery

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With a career spanning more than fifty years and forty albums, pianist Eddie Palmieri has been for decades a defining figure in the development of salsa and Latin jazz. Initiated in the instrument as a young boy, in 1955 he debuted in Johnny Seguí’s orchestra, a main staple of New York City’s legendary Palladium Ballroom. In 1961 he formed the band La Perfecta, pioneering a blend of Afro-Latin rhythms with American jazz along with a heavy frontline of trombones that replaced the traditional trumpets in Latin orchestras. His musical experimentation continued through the next decade and earned him the first of ten Grammy Awards for The Sun of Latin Music (1975). Palmieri’s music is at once cerebral and soulful, synthesizing his Puerto Rican heritage with jazz influences, including his brother Charlie Palmieri, as well as Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, and McCoy Tyner. In this portrait, Máximo Colón captures the intensity of Palmieri’s incendiary solos.Con una carrera que abarca más de cincuenta años y cuarenta discos, el pianista Eddie Palmieri ha sido durante décadas una figura decisiva en el desarrollo de los géneros de la salsa y el jazz latino. Empezó a tocar el piano desde muy joven y en 1955 debutó en la orquesta de Johnny Seguí, atracción del legendario Palladium Ballroom de la ciudad de Nueva York. En 1961 formó la banda La Perfecta, pionera en la fusión de ritmos afrolatinos con el jazz norteamericano, a la cual integró una primera línea de trombones en lugar de las trompetas...
Type:
Image
Format:
Gelatin Silver Print
Rights:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
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National Portrait Gallery

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution